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Transform a Shower Curtain into a Roman Valance, No Sewing!

I love to share my ideas on how to save money to get a custom look, especially when it’s a DIY project with no sewing involved. Here is how I turned a fabric shower curtain into a roman pleated valance. The project was completed in less than 30 minutes. I just needed a few key items, most importantly, double sided mesh tape.

I measured the window width as the space between my closet cabinets. To figure the fabric width, I added an inch for the hem on one side and nothing for the other side, as I used the hemmed edge of the shower curtain fabric. The top heading would give the valance body so I decided to use it as well.

I cut down the width, and then cut some off the bottom. Since I needed extra fabric for the folds, about 36″ long seemed right. I put tape down the side of the raw edge to create the hem, peeled the film, folded it over then pressed it in place. That is the simple process for hemming with fabric tape.

To create my rod pocket, I folded the top heading of the shower curtain over so there was a large enough opening for my tension rod, and taped it across the same way. Then I repeated the process for a simple hem at the bottom edge.

I figured how much pleat I wanted to show and how deep it should be. So 3″ fabric showing and 4″ in the fold is what I decided. You can play around with pleat sizes and quantity to see what you like. I won’t to get too detailed about that. Then I measured and marked 3″ and 7″ up from the bottom and drew the lines across the width of fabric. I taped across the 7″ line and folded it over to the 3″ line to create the first pleat.

I did this two more times to create 3 pleats total. Then I ironed the treatment and fed the rod through the top pocket. Looking good!

Finally, for installation, I wedged the tension rod and valance between my cabinets. I’m happy with the final results. It’s simple yet sophisticated, and nobody would ever know it was a shower curtain!